IMPEACH BUSH

RTNDA Announces the Winners of the 2008 International Edward R. Murrow Awards Honoring 54 News Organizations for Journalism Excellence

The Radio-Television News Directors Association has announced the 2008 winners of the coveted Edward R. Murrow Awards, honoring excellence in electronic journalism.

In the network television category, ABC News has been awarded a total of six Murrows, including one for Overall Excellence. CBS News wins four awards, including one for Best Newscast for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. NBC and ESPN have also won.

In network radio, CBS News Radio wins five awards, including one for Overall Excellence. ABC News Radio, Mississippi Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio each won two awards. XM Satellite Radio is honored with a Murrow.

Disaster coverage figured in many of the winning stories both in radio and television, including reports on the Virginia Tech shootings and the Minneapolis Bridge collapse. Reports on the plight of injured Iraq war veterans' returning home was the subject of both the winning Continuing Coverage entry from CBS News and the ABC News Documentary entry.

In all, 54 news organizations are being honored with 77 awards out of an initial pool of 3,459 entries from several hundred news organizations. See below for the full winners list.

To earn an Overall Excellence award, a station or network must consistently demonstrate depth and scope in its coverage. Overall Excellence award winners this year are:

ABC News (network television)
CBS Radio News (network radio)
KOMO-TV, Seattle (television, large market)
WJAR-TV, Cranston, RI (television, small market)
WBAL-AM, Baltimore (radio, large market)
KFDI-FM/KFDI-AM, Wichita, KS (radio, small market)

Several local stations won multiple national Murrows. They are:

KGO-AM, San Francisco (Feature: Hard News, Use of Sound)
WBAL-TV, Baltimore (News Documentary, News Series)
WBZ-AM, Boston (News Series, Writing)

Local news coverage on the web in Texas was rewarded with two of the six National Edward R. Murrow awards for websites. WFAA-TV, the ABC affiliate serving the Dallas/Fort Worth area won for best broadcast affiliated website in a large television market and dallasnews.com, the website for the Dallas Morning News newspaper, won for best non-broadcast affiliated website.

The awards will be presented at the RTNDA Awards Dinner on October 13, 2008, in New York. For more information on the Awards Dinner, please contact Norman Cochran, 202.467.5254, normanc@rtnda.org.

For general Murrow Awards questions, please contact Tara Sheehan, 202.467.5203, taras@rtnda.org.

For more information about ordering duplicate Murrow trophies , please click here.

2008 National Edward R. Murrow Winners

Television Network/Syndication Service

Overall Excellence: ABC News
Continuing Coverage: CBS News, Boots on the Ground
Feature: Hard News: ABC News, Children of War
Feature Reporting: CBS News, The Way Home
Investigative Reporting: ABC News, Brian Ross Investigates: Prescription for Error
News Documentary: ABC News, To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports
News Series: ESPN Deportes, Sobrevivientes - Still Alive
Newscast: CBS News, The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
Sports Reporting: ESPN, ESPN SportsCenter: Sister Andrea Jaeger
Spot News Coverage: ABC News, Minneapolis Bridge Collapse
Videography: ABC News, Key to the World: Kiribati
Website: CBS News, cbsnews.com
Writing: NBC News - The Today Show, American Story with Bob Dotson

Radio Network/Syndication Service

Overall Excellence: CBS Radio News
Continuing Coverage: ABC News Radio, Virginia Tech Shootings
Feature: Hard News: Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Emmett Till Apology
Feature Reporting: Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Kids Write the Blues
Investigative Reporting: NPR, Sexual Abuse of Native American Women
News Documentary: XM Satellite Radio, The Invisible: Children without Homes
News Series: NPR, Rescuing the Wounded: Iraq to Germany
Newscast: CBS Radio News, News on the Hour
Sports Reporting: ABC News Radio, A Reason to Cheer
Spot News Coverage: CBS Radio News, Virginia Tech
Use of Sound: CBS Radio News, Bob Barker Retires
Writing: CBS Radio News, Dave Ross

Television: Large Market

Overall Excellence: KOMO-TV, Seattle
Continuing Coverage: KGW-TV, December Storm
Feature: Hard News: WTHR-TV, Mission Complete
Feature Reporting: KYW-TV, Stephen McGowan
Investigative Reporting: KNBC-TV, Contaminated
News Documentary: WBAL-TV, Africa's Maryland
News Series: WBAL-TV, A Clear Cut Case
Newscast: WHDH-TV, 7 News at 11
Sports Reporting: WCNC-TV, A League of Their Own
Spot News Coverage: KARE-TV, 35W Bridge Collapse
Videography: KUSA-TV, Scholl Videography Compilation
Website: WFAA-TV, WFAA.com Online Innovation
Writing: KOMO-TV, Sharify's Stories

Television: Small Market

Overall Excellence: WJAR-TV, Cranston, RI
Continuing Coverage: WKRG-TV, Mobiles Makeover
Feature: Hard News: WLTX-TV, Filyaw's Letters
Feature Reporting: News 10 Now, Syracuse, NY, Dr. Seuss Winter
Investigative Reporting: WLOX-TV, Home Sweet Meth Home
News Documentary: KTHV-TV, 50 Years: Central High Foundations of Freedom
News Series: WHAM-TV, A Wish Before Dying
Newscast: A-Channel Barrie, A Channel News at 6
Sports Reporting: KCCI-TV, One Week: Highway 5
Spot News Coverage: WSLS-TV, Virginia Tech Massacre Day 1
Videography: KVUE-TV, Seaholm Swan Song
Website: WSYR-TV, 9wsyr.com
Writing: News 12 Connecticut, David Springer Composite

Radio: Large Market

Overall Excellence: WBAL-AM, Baltimore
Continuing Coverage: KTAR-FM, Illegal Immigration
Feature Reporting: WNYC-FM, The Second Mom
Feature: Hard News: KGO-AM, The Golden Hour
Investigative Reporting: WTMJ-AM, Unlawful Restraint?
News Documentary: WBAL-AM, The Immortal Ironman
News Series: WBZ-AM, Teen Stress
Newscast: 710 KIRO AM, The Big Story @ 6
Sports Reporting: KMOX-AM, PlayBoys Pt. 4
Spot News Coverage: KRLD, North Texas Tornado
Use of Sound: KGO-AM, The Golden Hour
Website: WTOP-AM/FM, wtopnews.com
Writing: WBZ-AM, Carl Stevens

Radio: Small Market

Overall Excellence: KFDI-FM/KFDI-AM, Wichita, KS
Continuing Coverage: WVPS-FM, Climate Change
Feature Reporting: WFCR-FM, Love, War, and PTSD
Feature: Hard News: South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Fire Gel
News Documentary: WUOM-FM, Ashes to Hope: Overcoming the Detroit Riot
News Series: WSLU-FM, Farm to Farm, Family to Family
Newscast: WWL-AM/FM, Grand Jury Clears Doctor Charged with Killing Katrina Patients
Sports Reporting: WMSI/WQJQ-FM, British Baseball Fan
Spot News Coverage:KFDI-FM / KFTI-AM, Valley Center Explosion
Use of Sound: WRUF-AM, Game Security
Website: WAKR-AM, AkronNewsNow.com
Writing: WGLT-FM, Charlie Schlenker Compilation

Website Non-Broadcast Affiliated

Dallas Morning News, dallasnews.com